You have to try this...Emma swears by it! Much better than any ointment we have tried ever....

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Things have been rather crazy lately around the Ewing household. I am finally going to update you all.

The mid-endish of July we were able to spend almost five days with Tal's family in Arkansas, which was lovely! We swam with Aunt Jamie, ate lunch with Grammy's friends, visited Pop Pop's grave, had breakfast with MeMe and Grandaddy and a nice afternoon of playing and eating with MawMaw and PawPaw. It was so nice! Plus, it was my first few days off from my job here at home for almost two months. Much needed break! Although my grandfather had been diagnosed with parkinsons the day we left, so I spent a lot of time on the phone with mom and his other caretakers problem solving his medications and his body's adjustment to them. But we had a grand time with Grammy and our other relatives and our looking forward to our next vacation!

Then when we got home, most of our Regenold family relatives had all left or were leaving shortly after we got there. Mike is in Texas playing golf. Matt went to Georgia with his girlfriend, Kristen. And my parents left a few days later to visit with Mark and my dad's dad and stepmom. So the kids are thoroughly confused over where all the peeps are right now and are ready for next week when everyone is where they should be for a few days!

We returned on Tuesday and went straight to a midwife appointment beforing even getting home. Everything looks great. Baby is moving a lot and growing at just the right speed. Currently we are in our 18th week. I am feeling better by the day. But that sounds a lot better than it really is. I still feel awful! or at least a lot of the time. God has been good to allow us to have a few decent days though. And provided that I rest things are good. Emma Grace thoroughly enjoyed the midwife's office. She was so interested in every procedure that was performed. It was great! She would have drawn the blood if they let her.

Now for Tal! On the Wednesday after we arrived back on the 23rd of July! He had two interviews. One was with Mass Mutual, a second interview. It went really well and they pretty much were positive he could get a job there. And that it would be a pretty decent job as well. It sounded pretty good and we should know this week sometime about that. But he also had an interview, the initial interview, with Shelby County School System. It was not nearly as positive. Upbeat, you could say, but they pretty much let him know that there were not any jobs in his field of expertise at this time (economics or history) and therefore he would have to just hope that something opened up. The interviewer said that it does happen that people retire or transfer at the last minute. So it did not sound promising seeing the new teacher orientation started in less than a week.

But then the very next morning, Tal was checking his messages and found that he had missed a call at 8am that morning. It was the very same guy he had interviewed with at Shelby County. They wanted him to interview for a job. We were so thrilled, we had no idea where or what for, but it was just so cool after we had pretty much given up hope for a teaching job at Shelby County. Yes, maybe Memphis, and actually we thought that must have been Memphis that was calling him back. But it was not. So later that day he finally got back in touch with Mr. Mayo and was able to set up an interview with Millington High School for Friday morning early!

Everything went well for the interview and they seemed to really like him. He really enjoyed meeting the assistant principal. She has a son his age that is a youth pastor. So there were major points there in common. And the principal was about his age and a very nice man. The major problem was that he was not able to teach geography and they needed econ and geography. He got a call about 2pm saying that they really wanted him for the job, but unless the Board approved him to teach geography they could not hire him. They said they were waiting to hear from the Board. Within a few minutes really, he got another call from Mr. Mayo offering him the job!!! Praise the Lord.!

Then things kicked into overdrive. He only waited to call him mom and then was out the door to get his paperwork and start the acceptance process. He needed a physical and a background check. So Friday afternoon, he got the paperwork. Then Monday he spent four hours getting his physical done and getting his finger prints. Then Wednesday, yesterday, he went to his first day of new teacher orientation!!!! The first half was about benefits and then he got to tour his school and find his classroom. He also found out in addition to economics and geography, he will be teaching World History as well, which he is excited about being his major. So he won't get his textbooks until Monday and will have one week to prepare for three entirely different subjects! But he can do my super smart husband! We are so proud of him. And in addition to this, he will also be assistant coaching one of the girl's basketball teams as well. Not sure yet which one, but they said he should know by next week!

In preparation for Tal's new schedule, we have been adjusting our children's schedule as well. We have gotten a little spoiled with our free summer. And of course, since I used to work nights, we have always had Emma Grace on a later schedule than she should be. She was used to going to bed at 11pm and sleeping until almost ten am. Bubby has been on a tighter schedule, he usually goes to bed at 8 or 8:30pm and gets up about 7am. But we are all going to bed earlier now. So far Emma has adjusted to it remarkably well. She doesn't necessarily love it. But she is starting to fall into routine. And knows that after her bedtime snack (usually fruit or cereal), then we go read one book, pray and time to lay down. She was a little resistant to it at first, but now lays right down and within a few minutes is out! Bubby on the other hand, has been totally opposite. I thought it would be easier for him. He has been fighting sleep, no matter how tired he is. So we are getting to bed earlier than usual, but still not as early as I would like. But hopefully within the week we can remedy that. Tal has to leave our house no later than 6am to get to school on time. So we really need to support him by being on a good schedule. (the only downside to our new schedule is Emma Grace used to sleep in every morning and now she gets up super early every day and Bubby sleeps in now. UGH....it used to be if I could just him to sleep a little later life would be grand, now he sleeps and she doesn't! But oh well, at least with him asleep and her awake I get a shower in peace while she watches cartoons)

Emma Grace is doing great. She is growing like a weed. And becoming such a nice young lady. She is playing better and better with Elliot. She does still occasionally want her space, but has more often than not wanted him around more. She is into tea parties, coloring, Dora (STILL), and ballet. She is taking her first ballet/tumbling class this fall. She is really excited about it. It starts in about a week. YEAH!! My favorite quote of Emma this week has been: She was leaning over my belly talking to the baby and she said, "I will be four when you come out and I will be big enough to carry you everywhere. I will always love you and take care of you."

James Elliot's tongue has been loosed! Hehe....my little jabber box! He talks all the time. He doesn't shut up anymore. But we love it. His favorite questions is "What's that?" He asked it all day long. Which is great because it is how he learns new words. It is especially cute when he asks "what's that" and then answers it before we can. He still adores Emma Grace. He has continued to develop his sweet, tender spirit. He can still be pretty wild, but has also got a sensitive side as well. When Emma gets hurt, even when he had no involvement, he quickly says he is very sorry. OR if she gets in trouble, he runs in the room and says, sorry. Not sure if he is proactively avoiding a spanking or if he really just takes care of her. Could be the first one! He is so excited about the baby or at least he thinks he is. When he sees a baby on tv, he immediately comes and hugs his baby! So much fun. He is into balls these days like no one's business. And his favorite thing of all time is the Hillshire farm commerical where the men are grilling the brawtworsts. and doing the cheer/chant. He loves it and will dance/chant with them! so funny. He wants you to rewind over and over again. My bad for every rewinding it!

So that is our recap so far. I wish I could capture every cute moment and record them all. I do have a ton of pictures to upload, but my cord has been misplaced. So until I either find my cord or a card reader, you will have to wait!

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Saturday we went to Wyndyke Country Club as guests of my parents. Also, Deryl and Tracy Williams and their three boys joined us. The kids were able to play in the inflatables and then watch the fireworks. It was a blast! It rained literally until we got out of the car, but we so enjoyable the rest of the night. Emma and Reece enjoying the fireworks Bubby and I enjoying the fireworks

Uncle MattBubby enjoying his glow stick. He loved waving it and seeing the light float around. Emma enthralled with the fireworks Bubby getting his first real glimpse of fireworks. He slept through last year. Enjoying the show